Fire near UIC displaces students

May 31, 2009

Fire officials were investigating the cause of a fire that engulfed four apartment buildings and a garage near the University of Illinois at Chicago campus.

About 150 firefighters were involved in battling the extra-alarm blaze which began about 3 p.m. on the 700 block of South Aberdeen and was under control by 4:58 p.m., said Dep. Fire Cmdr. Michael Callahan.

One firefighter was treated at the scene for shortness of breath, he said.

Firefighters at the scene of the blaze on the 700 block of South Aberdeen Street. (Tribune / José M. Osorio)

The fire erupted on the rear porch of a building at 716 S. Aberdeen and spread to three other buildings and a garage. He said by the time fire fighters arrived, "flames were already shooting over the roof.''

He said heavy wind caused the fire to quickly spread to the other buildings.

The three-story brick apartment buildings, which were near the end of a dead end of South Aberdeen, housed about six apartments each. Officials said the residents of the buildings had evacuated themselves before firefighters could make it to the scene.

Callahan said three of the four buildings sustained significant damage and the fourth building had minor damage.

No campus buildings were damaged.

Scott Copeland, 24, lived on the third floor of 712 S. Aberdeen, one of the burning buildings. He said as he was coming home from work a little after 4 p.m., he saw his street packed with fire trucks and plumes of smoke billowing from the building.

He said he was coming home to pick up his dog, Parker, a Pomeranian, and take him out to his family's home in the suburbs for the night. Then, concerns about the dog first came to mind when he saw the fire.

He said became more concerned when he saw Parker's empty crate in the front yard of the building. For the next 30 minutes, he frantically asked everyone he could run into if they had seen his dog.

Soon thereafter, Copeland was reunited with Parker when a police officer who had been watching the dog found Copeland.

"Stuff is stuff," Copeland said, referring to his belongings. "But the dog definitely is different. It was a big relief when we found him."

Neill Tabotabo, 22, and Lem Ngo, 21, had just finished moving Tabotabo into his new apartment at 718 S. Aberdeen when they heard a loud crackling sound "like fireworks" coming from the back of the apartment building next door, Ngo said.